Clients

Before commencing work on a matter, I will send you a written confirmation of the scope of my engagement, instructions, fees other information that is specific to your matter (the “Engagement Letter"). This Engagement Letter is sent in email or letter form. In the event of a conflict between these Terms and the Engagement Letter, the Engagement Letter will prevail.

After the matter described in an Engagement Letter concludes, I have no obligation to advise you about subsequent legal developments related to the matter. If you wish to engage me to assist you with a new matter, that will be subject to a new Engagement Letter and/or these Terms.

As noted above my fees will be set out in the Engagement Letter. My current fees, including hourly rate, can be found here: https://burshlaw.com/clients/fees and will change from time to time. My fees are due and payable regardless of the outcome and whether a transaction is concluded.

For most matters, I offer a fixed fee for all or part of the matter. Where I have agreed to provide you with a fixed fee, the fee is always subject to the following two assumptions: (a) no issue arises which is not known to me when I provided the fee to you; and (b) the matter proceeds without any delay. In addition, the fee is subject to any other assumptions which are set out in the Engagement Letter. Where these assumptions are not met or I am required or asked to perform any out-of-scope work, the matter will be subject to an additional fee which, unless I advise otherwise, will be charged at my hourly rate.

For any fees charged at my hourly rate, I will try to provide you with an estimate of the anticipated fees of your matter. This estimate is based on my experience and the information available to me at the time. The actual time and fees required may vary based on a number of factors, many of which are outside of my control, including changes required due to additional information, your responsiveness and steps taken by other parties and lawyers.

My invoices will include disbursements, which are out-of-pocket expenses which I incur on your behalf. Disbursements include government filing fees, search and registration fees and courier and postage charges.

I prepare invoices regularly, generally at the end of each month or at the end of each major step in your matter. Invoices will be sent by email. If you would prefer that I send invoices to you in another way, let me know.

Where appropriate, I will ask for a retainer before commencing work on your matter. A retainer is a deposit paid to my firm in trust and will be used to pay your invoices when rendered. The retainer is not a flat fee or an estimate of the cost of your matter. I may require that you replenish the retainer as it is used.

On the completion of your matter or termination of my engagement, I will pay the balance of the retainer, if any, to you.

Where I am representing more than one person (a “joint engagement”), no information received from one client may be kept confidential from the other client(s). In the event a conflict arises which cannot be resolved, I may no longer be able to act for all clients and may no longer be able to even represent any of you.

Where I am asked to prepare one or more wills for spouses based on your shared understanding of the contents of each will, I treat the matter as a joint engagement. If, after preparing the documents, one spouse communicates new instructions to me such as to change or revoke a will, these new instructions will be treated as a new matter, not as part of the original matter and will need to be kept confidential from the other spouse. However, I will be unable to act for the instructing spouse in connection with this new matter unless the spouses have ended their relationship, the other spouse is deceased or the other spouse was informed about and consented to the new matter.

Where I represent a corporation or other entity, my engagement is not considered a joint engagement unless my Engagement Letter expressly indicates otherwise. Unless expressly indicated in writing (whether in my Engagement Letter or otherwise), I do not represent any related corporations or their respective shareholders, directors, officers, partners, members or employees. I will confirm the names of and communicate with individuals who are specifically authorized to give me instructions.

I prefer primarily to communicate via email or telephone. I endeavor to respond to all emails and telephone calls by the next business day, but this is not always possible. If I know I will be unavailable for an extended period of time, I will leave a voicemail message and auto-responding email to advise you as to when you can anticipate a response.

I charge my hourly fee, in 6 minutes increments, for reviewing and sending emails and telephone calls (other than where the communication forms part of a fixed-fee engagement). These types of communications often include, but are not limited to, “quick questions”, issues that arise and for which you need guidance and requests to provide documentation or information which I have already provided to you. Where these communications take place outside of an engagement, these Terms still apply.

I will report to you regularly on the progress of your matter. Once a matter has been completed, I will not remind you of any post-completion dates unless I agree in writing to do so. If you have additional reporting requirements, please let me know.

There is a risk that communications and documents transmitted by email and stored on cloud-based and mobile devices may be intercepted or interfered with by third parties. You hereby consent to my use of these forms of communications and storage methods.

You may terminate my engagement at any time upon written notice to me.

Subject to my professional obligations to you, I may terminate my services to you if: (a) you fail to cooperate with me in any reasonable request; (b) my continuing to act would be unethical or impractical; (c) you breach these Terms; or (e) for any other reason permitted by the rules that govern the professional conduct of lawyers in Ontario.

If you terminate my engagement or I withdraw, you are required to pay my fees and disbursements up until the time I stopped acting for you. If I have provided you with a fixed fee, such as for a Will or to draft an agreement, the fee will be the following percentage of my fixed fee based on the last step that I have completed: (a) 20% if I have requested your instructions and information; (b) 50% if I have prepared a draft; (c) 80% if I have reviewed the draft with you; and (d) 100% if a final meeting to sign the documents has been scheduled and was cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice, you did not attend or, in the case of documents to be signed electronically, the documents were sent to the signatories.

All legal advice provided is based on Ontario law and the laws of Canada applicable in Ontario. I may assist with administrative matters in another province, such as corporate filings. However, where I do, you agree that I will not have any liability to you for any damages suffered by you in connection with such assistance. If this is not acceptable to you, I can hire a lawyer on your behalf or refer one to you to assist with the component that relates to the other province.

Where my engagement is affected by the laws of another jurisdiction (e.g. issuing securities in the US or reviewing a contract in which the government law of a foreign jurisdiction applies), you acknowledge that I am not competent or insured to provide any advice on foreign law. If you would like to obtain such advice, you must retain a lawyer in the foreign jurisdiction.

Although many types of matters that I commonly assist with have a tax component and I may provide some general tax guidance, I do not provide any specific tax advice. You will need to contact your tax advisor to obtain specific tax advice and I regularly work together with clients’ tax advisors in this regard.

For certain matters (e.g. where tax or legal advice or legal advice in another jurisdiction is required), with your consent, I may retain lawyers or other professional advisors on your behalf. At the time I obtain your consent, I may require a retainer to cover the cost of these third-party advisors. Alternatively, I may agree to forward their invoices to you directly for payment. Unless this is included as part of a fixed fee, I will charge you for time spent working with other advisors at my hourly rate.

In my discretion, I may use third party service providers, such as couriers, process servers and printers, to assist in the provision of legal services. You hereby consent to use of such third-party service providers.

I may modify these Terms from time to time. The current version will be posted at https://burshlaw.com/clients/terms and can be provided to you upon request. The version of the Terms in effect on the date of an Engagement Letter (defined below) will apply to the matter.

If you have any questions about these terms or any other matter, do not hesitate to contact me. You may also have these Terms reviewed by an independent lawyer